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Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur
The history of agricultural education in Kerala can be traced back to the year 1896 when a scheme was evolved in the erstwhile Travancore State to train a few young men in scientific agriculture at the Demonstration Farm, Karamana, Thiruvananthapuram, presently, the Cropping Systems Research Centre under Kerala Agricultural University. Agriculture was introduced as an optional subject in the middle school classes in the State in 1922 when an Agricultural Middle School was started at Aluva, Ernakulam District. The popularity and usefulness of this school led to the starting of similar institutions at Kottarakkara and Konni in 1928 and 1931 respectively.
Agriculture was later introduced as an optional subject for Intermediate Course in 1953. In 1955, the erstwhile Government of Travancore-Cochin started the Agricultural College and Research Institute at Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram and the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Mannuthy, Thrissur for imparting higher education in agricultural and veterinary sciences, respectively. These institutions were brought under the direct administrative control of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Animal Husbandry, respectively. With the formation of Kerala State in 1956, these two colleges were affiliated to the University of Kerala. The post-graduate programmes leading to M.Sc. (Ag), M.V.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees were started in 1961, 1962 and 1965 respectively.
On the recommendation of the Second National Education Commission (1964-66) headed by Dr. D.S. Kothari, the then Chairman of the University Grants Commission, one Agricultural University in each State was established. The State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) were established in India as an integral part of the National Agricultural Research System to give the much needed impetus to Agriculture Education and Research in the Country. As a result the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) was established on 24th February 1971 by virtue of the Act 33 of 1971 and started functioning on 1st February 1972. The Kerala Agricultural University is the 15th in the series of the SAUs.
In accordance with the provisions of KAU Act of 1971, the Agricultural College and Research Institute at Vellayani, and the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, were brought under the Kerala Agricultural University. In addition, twenty one agricultural and animal husbandry research stations were also transferred to the KAU for taking up research and extension programmes on various crops, animals, birds, etc.
During 2011, Kerala Agricultural University was trifurcated into Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU), Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) and Kerala Agricultural University (KAU).
Now the University has seven colleges (four Agriculture, one Agricultural Engineering, one Forestry, one Co-operation Banking & Management), six RARSs, seven KVKs, 15 Research Stations and 16 Research and Extension Units under the faculties of Agriculture, Agricultural Engineering and Forestry. In addition, one Academy on Climate Change Adaptation and one Institute of Agricultural Technology offering M.Sc. (Integrated) Climate Change Adaptation and Diploma in Agricultural Sciences respectively are also functioning in Kerala Agricultural University.
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ThesisItem Open Access Performance analysis of clove bean ipomoea muricata (L) jacq. genotypes(Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2008) Malsawmkimi; KAU; Salikutty, JosephAn experiment was carried out in the Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara during August 2007 - January 2008 to analyze the performance of different accessions of clove bean Ipomoea muricata (L.) Jacq. The major objectives of the study were to genetically catalogue the germplasm and to assess the genetic variability, divergence, heritability, genetic gain and correlation of different traits with yield. Twenty five accessions collected from different parts of Kerala were grown in randomized block design with three replications. Cataloguing of the germplasm evidenced significant differences for the characters like vine length, days to first flower production, days to first harvest, length and weight of pedicel, length of fruit, yield per plant, duration of the crop, number of harvests and contents of vitamin C, calcium and crude fibre. There was also much variability in the germplasm with regard to colour shades of vine, flower and fruit. The accession IM-14 was found to be the highest yielder (4.24kg/plant) coupled with maximum length (3.675cm), girth (4.49cm) and weight of pedicel (93.27g) and length (2.8cm), girth (6.61cm) and weight of fruits (3.27g). Maximum vine length was observed in IM-7 (414.48cm). The accession IM-15 was the second best yielder (4.13 kg/plant) with superior yield contributing characters. Among quality attributes, protein content was found to be highest in IM-21, phosphorus in IM-2 and crude fibre in IM-10 and IM-3. The iron content ranged from 0.13mg/100g to 0.19mg/100g, vitamin C ranged from 24mg/100g to 48 mg/100g and calcium content ranged from 230.67mg/100g to 209.79mg/100g. Highest genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation were observed for weight of pedicel, yield per plant and crude fibre content. High heritability coupled with genetic gain was observed for yield per plant. The 25 accessions were grouped into six clusters and no parallelism between geographical distribution and genetic diversity was observed. Strong association was revealed between yield and length, girth and weight of pedicel and weight of fruit. Highest positive direct effect on yield was contributed by weight of individual fruits. A selection model was also formulated using characters like length, girth and weight of pedicel, length and girth of fruit, days to first flower production, vine length, protein, phosphorus, iron, ascorbic acid and crude fibre. Based on selection index accession IM-14 was identified as the best performer followed by the accessions IM-15, IM-12 and IM-11ThesisItem Open Access Population dynamics and management of erythrina gall wasp quardrastichus erythrinae kim.(Department of Agricultural Entomology, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2008) Beena, M P; KAU; Thomas Biju, Mathew. Studies were conducted to understand the population dynamics and management of Erythrina Gall Wasp (EGW)Quadrastichus erythrinae. An abstract of the work done and the results are given below. Population dynamics of Q.erythrinae was studied by observing weekly emergence of male and female insects from leaflets and petioles collected from field during the period from January 2006 to June 2007. The results showed that population was high in the months of July 2006, January 2007, April 2007 and June 2007.The present study indicated that the emergence od adult EGW was the highest from petioles. The increase in weight due to EGW infestation and gall production was the highest in the left lateral leaflets. Weekly mean population of EGW emerged during the period of study showed that the total number of male EGW (1096.36) was higher than the female insects emerged (763.13). Weekly mean population of the male and female emerged from the leaflets and petioles was correlated with weather parameters viz. maximum and minimum temperature. Maximum and minimum relative humidity and rainfall prevailed during the time of sampling, previous one week, previous 14 days,week 21 days before and week 28 days before. The results showed significant and positive correlation between population of male EGW and the minimum temperature, while no correlation existed between female population and other parameters studied. Comparison of biometric observation of uninfested and infested plant parts indicated that the weight of the leaflets and petioles increased significantly due to an increase in biomass. Due galling by EGW, the girth of the petioles was shortened to about one third of uninfested petioles. The emergence of EGW was maximum from petioled scored in the damage category ‘9’. Among the four groups of Erythrina stricta Roxb..stricta trees studied, based on the height of the trees, no group turned out to withstand the damage by EGW. Thiomethoxam, imidacloprid, carbaryl and acephate proved superior among the chemical tested insecticides tried against female and male EGW in the laboratory . Neem oil 2 per cent and neem oil-garlic 2 per cent proved superior among the botanical insecticides tried for protecting the newly formed side shoots. Among the systemic /translaminar insecticides applied on the galled plant parts, triazophos 0.05 per cent and imidacloprid .002 per cent were significantly superior in controlling the EGW emergence. In the field experiment conducted to evaluate insecticide-fungicide combination for EGW infestation and protection of the new side shoots, carbaryl 0.1 per cent and combination of imidacloprid 0.002 per cent and carbendazim 0.2 per cent effectively protected the side shoots up to 8 weeks after spraying. Residue analysis of dry pepper berries collected from pepper vines trailed, on the insecticide sprayed crythrina standards showed that residues at the time of harvest from trees sprayed with acephate 0.05 per cent dimethoate 0.05 per cent were below detectable limit. Where as the residues in pepper collected from lamda cyhalothrin 0.05 per cent and triazophos 0.05 percent treated trees was 1.38 ppm and 1.16ppm respectively. An overall analysis and interpretation of the data on population in relation to phenology to E.stricta foliar growth showed that there existed a six monthly cycle of damage by gall wasp resulting in complete defoliation of the trees by about six month followed by the next cycle of regrowth and re infestation .ThesisItem Open Access Reproductive biology of macrobrachium canarae ( tiwari, 1958 ) (decapoda, palaemonidae)(Department of Fishery Biology, College of Fisheries, Panangad, 2008) Sreedevi, K H; KAU; Jayachandran, K VThe aim of this project is to introduce the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium canarae (Tiwari, 1958) as a candidate species in a community aquarium. The orange red shining spot on the second cheliped where the movable finger joins with palm makes it appealing in the aesthetic sense. This species is found to breed in captivity also. For the effective management of the prawn in the aquarium, a thorough knowledge on the various aspects of its reproductive biology is a prerequisite. The various aspects of reproductive biology dealt with are 1. Taxonomy 2. Sexual dimorphism 3. Breeding dress 4. Maturity stages and ovarian development 5. Fecundity 6. Moulting Since the species do not exhibit sexual dimorphism in size, it is difficult to identify male and female. The difference in colour of antennular flagellum between sexes becomes useful especially when they are bred in captivity. The data on maturity stages and also the time of ovarian development finds its use especially in the aquarium rearing. The fecundity studies gives an idea of the number of offsprings which could be produced from a single brood .ThesisItem Open Access Ovararian maturation, breeding and early embryonic development of an indigenous ornamental cyprinid of the western ghats - chela fasciata silas(Department of Fishery Biology, College of Fisheries, Panangad, 2008) Indira, Divipala; KAU; Anna Mercy, T VChela fasciata is an indigenous ornamental cyprinid endemic to the Western Ghats of Kerala. It inhabits the riffle zones of River Bharathapuzha at Thootha. A total of 144 fishes (94 females and 50 males) ranging in size from 26.0 to 82.0 mm were collected from the wild and used for the study of reproductive biology. The gonads were quantified into six maturity stages based on external morphology as immature virgin, maturing virgin, early ripening, late ripening, ripe and partially spent. Studies on oocyte distribution of the six stages of maturity were done to understand the maturation of ova in the ovary. The ovaries of Chela fasciata showed asynchronous oocyte development. The oocyte development was classified into nine different oogenic stages namely, chromatin nucleolus stage, early perinucleolus stage, late perinucleolus stage, yolk vesicle stage, primary yolk stage, secondary yolk stage, tertiary yolk stage, migratory nucleus stage and mature oocyte). The first mature females appeared in the length group of 40 – 45 mm and males in the group of 25 – 30 mm. The size at first maturity for female was found to be at 45.75 mm TL (45 – 50 mm) and for males at 36.25 mm TL (35 – 40 mm). All the females were mature by 60.00 mm TL and the males by 45.00 mm TL. Based on the ova diameter frequency study of the ripe ovary, Chela fasciata was found to be a multiple spawner, with a protracted spawning season, the individuals spawning intermittently. Absolute fecundity of the fishes ranged from 2669 to 4437 in fishes of size range 49.5 mm to 82 mm TL. The number and size of eggs were found to be directly proportional to the size and age of the fish. Fecundity showed a positive linear relationship (5% level of significance) with the length and weight of both the fish and ovary. The embryonic development studies showed that the cleavage stage of the egg lasted for about 2 hrs 10 min., post fertilization. The inside egg embryo stage had lasted for 21 hrs, post fertilization. The eggs hatched at the end of 21 hrs, and the embryos emerged tail first. Pigmented eye was seen in one-day-old free embryo. Free embryo stage lasted for three days post fertilization. By the end of third day, the mouth developed, the yolk sac was empty and the exogenous feeding started, the free embryo entering the larval period. A complete understanding of basic reproductive biology of this fish will definitely help in the commercial production under captivity for the domestic and export market of this indigenous ornamental fish.ThesisItem Open Access Management of biodegradable plant tissue culture lab wastes through biomethanogenesis(Centre for Plant Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2008) Abdulla Fayas, T; KAU; Rajendran, P CGenerating renewable source of energy from tissue culture laboratory waste by the process of biomethanogenesis is the focal theme of present investigation. Unlike developed countries, the developing countries are hesitant to establish more number of biotechnology/ tissue culture laboratories due to financial constraints. Easy and regular availability of biogas from TC wastes will be a boon to establish self-sustainable TC laboratory in view of present energy The biogas experimental units required for the study was designed and various treatments were employed for the biodegradation of tissue culture waste, using the methanogenic bacteria Methanobacterium ruminatium, Methanobacterium formicicum; Methanosarcina barkeri, Bactereoides ruminicola, Selenomonas ruminatium, Eubacterium tortuosum and Clostridium butyricum. Treatment involving TC waste and cow dung was also conducted for biomethanation in the present study. Quantity of gas production and its combustibility was noticed for various treatments. In bacterial treatments the quantity of gas generation was highest for Clostridium butyricum. Only treatments involving cow dung produced combustible gas. Molecular characterization, of methanogenic bacterial cultures was also done for finding the genetic similarity between them. RAPD followed by scoring . of the bands by UPGA routine showed maximum similarity between bacterial cultures of Methanobacterium ruminatium and Methanobacterium jormicicum with Methanosarcina barkeri. Physio-chemical characters like CIN ratio of the TC wastes, pH and temperature of medium and Hydraulic retention time was also observed for the various treatments. The CIN ratio of the TC wastes was found to be very low and nowhere near the optimum CIN ratio of 20-30 required for gas production. Other parameters like pH of the treatments and Hydraulic retention time was also. • noticed. The pH of the treatments involving bacterial cultures was very low, considering the normal pH of 6.8 to 7.5 required in biogas generation. The main constraints in the biogas generation were found out to be the low CIN ratio of the TC waste and the low pH of the medium. The present study indicated the possibility ofbio-gas generation from TC waste through fortification using various supplements like coconut water and coir pith which have higher CIN ratio.ThesisItem Open Access In vitro shoot regeneration and micrografting in nutmeg (Myristice fragrans houtt.)(Centre for Plant Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2008) Liffey Zachariah, Antony; KAU; Valsala, P ANutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt.), is dioecious and dimorphic in branching habit with erect growing orthotropic and horizontally growing plagiotropic shoots. The long gestation period and dioecious nature of the crop causes difficulty in the production of quality planting materials of known sex. Vegetative propagation, budding and grafting with orthotropic scion material produces erect growing tree with upright tree architecture. In vegetative propagation, scarcity of orthotropic scion material is a limiting factor in large scale production of planting materials. So the programme “In vitro shoot regeneration and micrografting in nutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt.)” was taken up. The objectives of the study were: (1) To identify the culture conditions for multiple shoot production from orthotrops of gynoecious plants of nutmeg through enhanced release of axillary buds and shoot tip culture and (2) To standardize micrografting technique with in vitro and in vivo shoots as scion. The work was done at CPBMB, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara. SH medium (Schenk and Hildebrandt, 1972) was found to be the best basal medium for in vitro culture establishment of nodal segments of nutmeg compared to ½ MS (Murashige and Skoog, 1962) and WPM (Lloyd and Mc Cown, 1980). Surface sterilization of nodal segments by soaking in (0.1%) carbendazim for 10 minutes followed by (0.1%) HgCl2 treatment for six minutes and sterile water wash, recorded 33% survival of cultures. The best explant for culture initiation was nodal segments. The best season for culture establishment was summer months (April-May) compared to rainy season (June- July). Loss of cultures was due to fungal contamination and necrosis of tissues. The media combination SH + Thidiazuron (TDZ) 0.03mg l-1 + Activated Charcoal (A.C.) 0.5% recorded bud expansion in 50% of the cultures within a period of nine days. Nodal segments are superior to shoot tips in culture establishment. Culture condition for culture establishment was 26 ± 20C at a light intensity of 1000 lux. The carbon source; 2% Sucrose + 1% glucose or 5% sucrose supported bud elongation and leaf expansion Refinement of culture establishment media was attempted with organic supplements; Coconut water (5, 10, 15 and 20% v/v), Casein hydrolysate (10, 25 and 50mg l-1) and Brassinolide (0.05, 0.1 and 0.2mg l-1) with nodal segments from juvenile seedlings, regenerants from coppiced trees and mature trees. In explants from juvenile seedlings and mature trees, 5 to 15%coconut water supported culture establishment. In juvenile explants, shoot elongation was also observed at 10% coconut water. Casein hydrolysate supported bud expansion in juvenile and mature tree explants at 10 to 50 mg l-1. Bud elongation and leaf expansion was observed at 25 mg l-1 concentration. Brassinolide (0.2 mg l-1) supported bud expansion in juvenile explants. The suggested media for explants from juvenile as well as coppiced trees for culture establishment of nodal segments of nutmeg is SH + 0.03 mg l-1 TDZ + 25 mg l-1 Casein hydrolysate + 2% sucrose + 1% glucose + 0.5% A.C. Casein hydrolysate concentration for explants from mature trees could be 50 mg l-1. In vitro seed germination was observed in mature seeds in presterilized bottles with water soaked cotton/ little water. Somatic embryos were formed at the cut portion of six month old seeds in the medium of ½ MS + 2% Sucrose + A.C. 0.5%. Proliferation of callus and somatic embryos was observed with the medium B5 + 0.1 mg l-1 Kin + 0.01 mg l-1 NAA + 0.01 mg l-1 GA3 + 10.0 mg l-1 Casein hydrolysate + . 0.5% A.C. The response was obtained two and a half months after inoculation. Three days old in vivo germinated seedlings did not established under in vitro condition even though surface sterilization treatment with 0.1% Emissan for thirty minutes followed by 0.1% HgCl2 for six minutes was given. Feasibility of grafting in juvenile plants was studied with epicotyl grafting and got 80% success. Grafting was done on twenty days old seedling with scion material from different seedling. In vitro epicotyl micrografting was done with in vitro raised scion and root stocks. It was also done on in vivo germinated seedlings after surface sterilization. Scion shoot of 2.5 cm length was grafted on twenty days old root stock. Graft was cultured in liquid nutrient medium and survived for two weeks. Later fungal contamination destroyed the cultures. Grafting with in vitro shoots on in vivo raised root stocks did not succeedThesisItem Open Access Bio-efficacy and molecular characterization of the native isolates of Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner(Department of Agricultural Entomology , College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2008) Jyothi Sara, Jacob; KAU; Maicykutty, P MathewBacillus thuringiensis Berliner shortly known as B.t., is a gram-positive, spore forming bacterium that produces proteinaceous crystal containing insecticidal toxins. The host range of B.t. has expanded considerably due to extensive screening programmes. By virtue of its lack of toxicity towards other species of animals and human beings, B.t. has emerged as a safe candidate in the IPM programmes of various agroecosystems. Frequent exposure to one type of B. thuringiensis toxins can develop resistance in insects. Isolation of novel strains is important to overcome the onset of insect resistance. The present study on “Bio-efficacy and molecular characterization of native isolates of Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner” was conducted at the Department of Agricultural Entomology and CPBMB, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara during the period from 2006 to 2008 with an objective to study the pathogenicity of 20 B. thuringiensis isolates collected from the Western Ghats of Kerala, one of the well known hot spots of biodiversity. The tobacco caterpillar, Spodoptera litura Fb. which was used as the test insect was reared in semi-synthetic diet (Ballal, 2004) and also in natural diet on castor leaves. The preliminary screening was performed for lepidopteran specificity with the ideal dose of 1 x 109 spores per ml showed that three isolates were toxic to S. litura. The per cent mortality caused by the lepidopteran effective isolates, namely, KAU-11, KAU-51, KAU-166 and the reference strain, HD-1 were 76.7 per cent, 80.0 per cent, 86.7 percent, 96.7 per cent respectively. A standardized bioassay was carried out with five different concentrations of all the selected isolates namely, KAU-11, collected from Thusharagiri (Calicut Dt.), KAU-51 from Kolahalamedu (Idukki Dt.), KAU-166 from Nelliyampathi(Palakkad Dt.) and the reference standard HD-1 (B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki). The mortality ranged from 63.3 to 100.0 per cent in various isolates and there was no significant difference between isolates. This indicated the equal effectiveness of the native isolates with the standard strain, HD-1. The LC5o value for the isolates was calculated by Finney’s Method of Probit Analysis. The lowest LC50 was obtained in KAU-51, with 6.3095 x 104 spores per ml and highest in KAU-11, with 1.2589 x 106 spores per ml. The lethal time to cause 50 per cent mortality (LT50) ranged from 44.4 h. to 96.0 h. in different isolates. The lowest LT50 was recorded in HD-1, which shows the ability of the standard to cause mortality slightly earlier compared to other isolates. The molecular characterization of the selected isolates was performed with RAPD-PCR technique. RAPD-PCR is a simple and rapid method for determining genetic diversity in various organisms and is a means of creating a biochemical finger print of an organism. Out of the 20 primers screened, 10 primers which produced more than five bands were selected for RAPD analysis. The RAPD data was used to generate a similarity matrix using the NTSyS programme. Clustering was done and dendrogram was drawn using Unweighted Pair Group Method of Arithematic Averages (UPGMA). The results showed that high variability exists between the selected isolates. Further studies are required to identify the subspecies of the efficient B.t. isolates to evaluate the field effectiveness against S. litura and other major lepidopteran pests for its utilization in pest management programmes. More primers need to be screened to study the genetic diversity of the isolates.ThesisItem Open Access Genetic analysis of segregating generations for yield attributesand resistance to fruit and shoot borer (Earias vittella Fab.) in bhindi (Abelmoschus spp.)(Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2008) Divya, Balakrishnan; KAU; Sreenivasan, EThe research study entitled “Genetic analysis for yield attributes and resistance to shoot and fruit borer (Earias Vittella Fab.) in Bhindi (Abelmoschus spp.)” was undertaken during the period 2006-2008 at Department of plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, Thrissur. The main objectives of this project were to study the nature of gene action governing fruit and shoot borer resistance and yield attributes and to attempt for transfer of shoot and fruit borer resistance to genotypes with desirable yield attributes. Six diverse okra genotypes viz, Arka Anamika, KL9, Salkeerthy, Sel 2, Susthira and AC5 were crossed in a 6 x 6 complete diallel pattern. Thirty crosses were made out of which 24 Fjs were fertile and six interspecific crosses were sterile. Fifteen selected F2S were evaluated for yield attributes and resistance to fruit and shoot borer. High genetic variability, heritability and genetic gain were observed in fruit weight and plant height. Both Fi and F2 of the cross Arka Anamika x Salkeerthy recorded the higher fruit yield than others. Arka Anamika was found to be a good general combiner for fruit number, fruit weight and fruit length. KL9 showed high gca for days to first flowering, intemodal number and fruit weight. Fruit yield was positively associated with number of fruits, number of intemodes, fruit weight and fruit length. Shoot and fruit borer infestation recorded- negative association with plant height, flowering period, fruit number, fruit yield and intemodal length. Overdominance was observed for most of the yield contributing traits. Generation mean analysis for six generations from two crosses viz. Sel 2 x AC 5 and KL 9 x Salkeerthy were carried out and gene action for yield attributes and resistance to fruit and shoot were studied. Duplicate non allelic interactions were observed for most of the traits studied. Complementary epistasis govern the inheritance of fruit borer resistance in the cross Sel 2 x AC 5. Digenic non-allelic interaction model was found inadequate to explain shoot borer infestation. Biochemical analysis indicated the presence of higher levels of phenol and tannin content in fruits and shoots of resistant genotypes. The Fi of the cross Sel 2 x AC 5 was identified as the best hybrid for both marketable fruit yield and resistance to fruit and shoot borer and it also showed field resistance to Yellow Vein Mosaic Virus.ThesisItem Open Access Performance of spiny coriander (Eryngium foetidum L.)under different shade regimes(Department Of Plantation Crops & Spices,College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2008) Appukuttan, J; KAU; Sulekha, G RThe studies on the “Performance of spiny coriander (Eryngium foetidum L.) under different shade regimes” were carried out at the Department of Plantation Crops and Spices, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, during 2004-2006. The objectives were to evaluate the adaptability and performance of Eryngium foetidum L. under varying levels of shade and plant population densities and also to study the feasibility of cultivating Eryngium foetidum L. under the homestead conditions of Kerala. Its use, both as a flavouring agent and herbal medicine, and also as a home remedy for various ailments point towards its inclusion as an important item in Kerala homesteads. The performance of Eryngium foetidum was studied at three levels of shade (25, 50 and 75%) and four spacings (10cm 15cm, 15cm 15cm, 20cm 15cm and 30 cm 15 cm). High Density Poly Ethylene shade nets of appropriate mesh size were used for providing the required shade levels. Observations on growth parameters, physiological characters, growth analysis, yield characters, bio-chemical analysis, storage studies etc., were taken and the benefit: cost ratio was worked out. From the experiment, it was found that the crop performed best under 75 per cent shade level in most of the characters studied. Maximum yield (1411.04 g/plot of size 120 150 cm) was recorded under 75% shade level and also at a closer spacing of 10x 15cm (1131.41 g/plot). But the interaction effect of shade and population density on total herbage yield was not significant. On analysis, no measurable quantity of volatile oil could be estimated. The highest NVEE of 0.86 per cent was obtained from the plants grown under 75 per cent shade and a spacing of 30 × 15cm. From the storage studies it was concluded that under ambient temperature the leaves could be stored for a maximum of 5.2 days and 4.8 days when grown under 50 per cent and 75 per cent shade respectively, whereas under cold storage, the leaves from 75% shade could be stored for a maximum of 109.65 days without any deterioration. Maximum benefit: cost ratios of 1.28, 1.27 and 1.21 were obtained in the treatments 75% shade and 15cm × 15 cm spacing, 75% shade and 10cm 15 cm and 75% shade and 20cm 15 cm spacing, respectively. In general, as the intensity of shade increased, performance of the crop was better. Since the highest level of shade (75%) was found to be the best for the growth and yield of Eryngium foetidum, a higher level of shade, can be studied. Further studies on intercropping Eryngium foetidum under the existing homestead farming situations and other shaded situations like coconut, rubber, oil palm and other perennial tree crops are necessary. Popularization of the crop and development of appropriate marketing strategy are necessary for making the crop more remunerative.